The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate ease of information transfer and convenience to users. One area in which there is a demand to increase ease of information transfer relates to the delivery of services to a user of a mobile terminal. The services may be in the form of a particular media or communication application desired by the user, such as a music player, a game player, an electronic book, short messages, email, content sharing, web browsing, etc. The services may also be in the form of interactive applications in which the user may respond to a network device in order to perform a task or achieve a goal. The services may be provided from a network server or other network device, or even from the mobile terminal such as, for example, a mobile telephone, a mobile television, a mobile gaming system, electronic book or reading device, etc. Further, services may include a hybrid of both network-based elements and mobile device(s) functioning in concert to deliver the user experience.
In many situations, it may be desirable for the user to interface with a device such as a mobile terminal for the provision of an application or service. A user's experience during certain applications such as, for example, web browsing or navigating through content may be performed through existing methods of a touch screen interface or a tactile keypad; however, as a small size is often desirable for portable devices, alternate methods for a user interface to provide input may be similarly desirable. Physical device input elements, such as keys of a keypad or touch screens may have limited size thereby limiting the number of available inputs. Multiplexing the available inputs through multi-function keys, menus, or windows enhances the number of available inputs, but requires multiple keystrokes or more complex operations. Further enhancing user interface options may improve a user's experience and increase the popularity and functionality of a device.